Aviation Gin Blog

The Faces Behind the Still

Making a batch of Aviation American Gin take a whole crew of passionate people from distillers to bottlers and a few lucky people that make up the quality control panel. Today, we introduce you to two of our skillful distillers, Andrew Tice and Miles Munroe. Learn what makes them tick and how they got into, arguably, the best job on the planet.

Name: John Andrew Tice

Born: Lebanon, PA

Job: House Spirits Distillery Head Distiller

Where’d you get your distilling chops? I learned about brewing in New Zealand, Troegs Brewing in PA, and the American Brewers Guild. A lot of what I learned in brewing has translated well into distilling.

Why is Portland a good place to be a distiller? I think it’s the epicenter of the craft distilling movement. There are so many different distilleries doing different things and Portland is so supportive of locally-made, high-quality unique products. Craft distilled spirits represent the evolution in artisan beverages after craft beer and I think Portland intrinsically “gets” that.

Name: Miles Richard Munroe

Born: Wakefield, RI

Job: House Spirits Distillery Distiller

How’d you get into distilling? A bartending career led me to a great respect for Single Malts and small batch Bourbons. Hosting tastings turned into an interest in brewing with the knowledge that beer is directly related to certain whiskey styles. I was naturally very interested in the all-malted barley Westward Whiskey that House Spirits Distillery was producing and jumped at the chance when approached by Andrew.

What do you taste first when you drink Aviation American Gin? I expect a bright, clean rush of lavender and citrus right off the bat. It expands on the palate to reveal sweet cardamom and juniper edge.